Real cell testing. Source (All Images) | AZL Aachen GmbH

From its previous cooperation with a total of 79 project partners, the AZL Aachen (Aachen, Germany) network has defined two follow-up projects that deal with casing design for future cell technologies and methods for simulating thermal and mechanical loads in a thermal runaway event. The projects, “Emerging Battery Storage Technologies” and “Thermal Propagation in BEV Battery Casings,” aim to improve the design and selection of construction methods as well as the development process of battery casings. Interested companies can join the two consortia — including Audi AG, Magna Steyer Fahrezugtechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Posco and Syensqo, among others — up until the kick-offs on Sept. 11, 2024.

The first project, “Emerging Battery Storage Technologies,” focuses on the design and requirements of battery casings and how these aspects will change in the course of future battery technologies. There are continuous innovations in the field of cell chemistry. The cell configuration, and in particular the cell chemistry, has a major influence on the design of battery casings, both in terms of size and temperature control during normal operation as well as the level of protection required in disruptive events such as accidents and thermal runaway.